It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now, here's nick coffee. All right, let's get it start
at five o'clock here on a Monday afternoon. Happy Derby Week, everybody.
Hopefully you guys are excited. I know some people really love Derby and everything
that comes with it, and there's others that are more, you know,
casually. I'm more of a casual, right, I'm not a big horse
I mean, I'm not a horse racing fan specifically, don't know much about
it and probably never will. But everything that comes with Derby is awesome as
somebody who's lived here my whole life. And you know, the race itself,
it's, you know, the most exciting two minutes in sports. That's
what it's been branded as for quite some time. I'm not sure, you
know. I mean, I can't really disagree, right because I'm gonna watch
the Derby. You're not a horse racing fan either, John? Are you?
Do? You? Are you guy that you know? Is it kind
of a whatever day? Yeah? The day itself is a whatever day,
but I do always make an appointment to watch the Derby race itself. Derby
Party you go to any derby party. I haven't been to a derby party
probably in maybe five or six years, maybe longer. Yeah, And if
you're at a party, then like it's gonna be everybody stopping and what they're
doing. And obviously if you're there, it's you know, you're gonna know
when the derby's running. But I do feel like it's one of those I
think there's a lot of folks like you that maybe you know, they don't
go to it, and maybe they would go to a derby party every now
and then, but it's just not something they're seeking out. But I feel
like they will make sure they're able to find a TV or pull out their
phone and watch the actual you know, Kentucky Derby. And I say this
all the time. It amazes me the amount of interest that this event has
for, you know, across the world. And it shouldn't amaze me because
again, it's what we're known for. Right, one day out of the
three hundred and sixty five days a year, there are more eyeballs on this
city than there are in any other point and it's when this race happens.
And like, I know that, but it still always just surprises me to
be at Churchill Downs the day of Derby working for has doing different interviews and
whatnot, and the vast majority of the people there aren't from here, And
you know that's good. I mean, we have an event that brings that
many people from across the world here, and you know, I think it's
good for a city to have something like that, right, it's your day
to shine. And I feel like for the most part, you know,
more often than not, the folks at Churchill Downs and everybody in Louisville that
really does it big for the Derby, for people who come from out of
town. I feel like we do our part because we keep them coming back.
But those that watch the watch the race from across the country that you
know, they aren't they've never been to Derby, they've never been to Louisville
during Derby week, but they just it's that big of a sporting event that
like, regardless of your interest, if you can, you will, you
will turn it on and make sure you watch it. So sometimes I get
a little bit of fomo, right, fear missing out. I'm just like,
wait a second, I should be more into this. But like I
for years, I would think, okay, you know, you need to
be a little bit more educated on the sport and be able to, you
know, be dangerous enough to you know, have a conversation. But I
just I couldn't fake it. I'd be a phony. Right, So I
love everything about Derby, everything that comes with it, Derby season, I
should say, and the Derby, you know, the Derby itself is great.
But like I'm not, I wasn't exposed to the sport of horse racing
a lot as a kid, and it's never been something that I've really been
that interested in. So, you know, if I did decide to use
this week to really start you know, bs and you and talking you know,
speed figures and you know other horse racing jargon, I started throwing that
out there at you, I'd be a phony and you know first and I
don't think you'd want to hear that anyway. So we're not going to you
know, neglect Derby. It's a big deal. That's why we've been letting
you hear some of our Derby horse profiles from Jody Dimmling, who works for
us only during Derby time these days, and he does a great job covering
horse racing. He is the expert, so each year he'll do a profile
on each of the horses that are running in the derby, and we've let
you here I think is at three at this point. Yes, so we'll
do a couple of more before we wrap it up and hopefully get you'll hear
all of them before we get to the end of the week, and maybe
they can help you decide what what horse you're gonna pick. Also, the
annual Barnstable Brown Gala party is coming up, just like you know always,
and they have updated here at WHS eleven dot com the list of those attending,
the celebrities that have given him an RSVP, and they're going to be
in attendance, and we've gone through i'd say about thirty percent of the list
up to this point. And I don't know if anybody finds this to be
you know, entertaining. If anything, it's probably because they're laughing at us.
Because there's some celebrities that, like we clearly know, right like Jack
Harlow, Smokey Robinson, Aaron Rodgers, Kid Rock. But then there's other
names like Cole Hauser, which I guessed he was a baseball player, sure
enough, I know exactly who he is. Wouldn't have known his name though
it's ripped from Yellowstone. He's going to be there. Cheryl Lee Ralph.
That was one we didn't know, right. Yeah, she's an actress song
of the show Abbott Elementary we found out. Yeah, not familiar with that
show. But you know, apparently that show's got some poppy it's it's it's
popular to some, so she's turned it into you know, I don't know.
I doubt that she credits her role there for this invite, but I
don't know. Maybe she does. But we'll get to more of that throughout
the rest of the show today, and we've got you know, the rest
of the week. I will be out on Thursday and Friday, so a
shorter week for me. But you'll be in good hands, no doubt.
All right, So let's just dive right back in here, shall we.
I would assume a lot of folks, even if you are just now joining
the show now you are aware of the news from earlier today. Jaden Quayt's
the five star big Man sixteen year old phenom number eight player in America.
He has decided to commit to Arizona State, so he visited there this past
weekend. I think Louisville was in really good shape and it came down to
a role I guess playing time. And his father did talk to the Memphis
Commercial Appeal last week around the town that they canceled their visit to me Memphis
and stated that they're looking for a place where he could come in and start
right away. I mean that was his father's words, word for word,
just a week ago. And you know, Pat Kelsey, I don't think
was going to guarantee that. In fact, I'm sure he wasn't, and
I understand that decision. So it's not to say that, well, you
know, we don't need him anyway, We didn't want him. Louisvill wanted
him, and they didn't get him. Arizona State ended up being the school
that landed his services, and I think he'll be an impactful player for them.
He'd have been an impact He would have been an impactful player here,
but at sixteen years old, it's just hard to imagine him being a starter,
you know, although maybe he would be just so talented that you wouldn't
be able to keep him off the floor. I don't know, but it
is a loss, right, meaning it's somebody that you wanted and you didn't
get and I'm not sure how much they were banking on him. Like to
me, I'd say from moment one, they never really felt like they had
him. I kids speak for anybody, so maybe they did. But obviously
there's the connection where his former where he went to high school, Word of
God Academy there in Raleigh. One of Pat Kelsey's assistant coaches was just coaching
there up until two years ago when he went and joined him at Charleston.
So there was that connection. And the visit went well. Louisville was believed
to have a really competitive nil offer for him, and he didn't. He
didn't, you know, want to talk to Mark Pope, who wanted to
do an in home visit, he decided to no longer consider Arkansas. When
I say he, I guess I'm meaning, you know, everybody involved.
They're not just the kid, but his parents and maybe an agent or something.
And then Arizona State popped up last week as a school that was going
to get a visit, and sure enough they got him. So I'm sure
Arizona State was willing to give him whatever guarantees he needed because and it's not
to say that, you know, I mean, Louisvie's in a position right
now, we're like, you know, I can't sit here and say,
well, yeah, he will play a lot more there, he won't play
at Louisville. I mean, he's a five star kid that if he came
in and he even as a young guy at sixteen, that's still maturing and
you're developing, like if your town that you're going to play. But I
would say for Hurley, you know, if if in fact he's got and
I have no clue what Arizona State's roster looks like, by the way,
but you know, if they only have a couple of spots open or something
like that, you know, I think they could they could feel a little
comfortable and saying, yeah, you know, we're good here here and here,
but you can you'll you'll plug it in this spot. And some have
said that, you know, Kelsey should have, you know, said whatever
it took to get him, and I don't know. I mean, I
guess I understand your point because it would have been a big splash. But
I actually, as much as it sounds corny, I think the brand for
Pat Kelsey at Charleston and Winthrop was you're going to earn everything you get like
they're and all coaches say that, like, it's not as if he's got
some never ever heard before approach. Right, this isn't like revolutionary stuff.
But I do think it became very much a part of like the DNA of
their programs, and it became infectious to where everybody wanted to you know,
just I mean, they were very competitive internally, which of course led to
you know, his team's having success. So I think, you know,
it would have been great but didn't work out, and now you move on
and you still have a total of I think it is five scholarships to fill.
I believe, could be wrong. It's either five or six. And
one thing I mentioned earlier for those who missed this, I do believe that
the streaming docuseries that one of these streaming services is going to have on Arizona
State and Dan Hurley this year keep saying Dan Hurley, it's Bobby Hurley.
Sorry, I get the Hurley Brothers mixed up. One is clearly a lot
more successful than the other, but Bobby Hurley's more the character, which is
why he has Hollywood producers shopping a docuseries on him. His program at Arizona
State that will be filmed this upcoming season, and I don't know when I'll
end up getting on Netflix or Hulu, whoever it ends up. But I
actually think if you're I mean, you can't buy if you're somebody that's featured
within that show and you're you know, a character. I mean, it's
a docu series, but like anything, there's gonna be a you know,
it's not a scripted character. But you're somebody that has a notable role within
that docuseries and you're likable or your story is really captivating to people. You
can't buy that type of reach. You can't you can't buy an advertisement or
an infomercial. And I mean, it's just it's something that only happens with
shows like that, because there'll be people who would potentially watch that that really
aren't that into college basketball, but they see a docuseries about I mean,
for example, I use this all the time. Wrestlers, the show that
was done here locally about OBW that was on Netflix's last last fall. You
know, many people watch that that don't care about wrestling at all. It's
the characters. It's the story that makes it interesting, right, And because
you're not necessarily a fan of that industry. It may you're more intrigued by
because you're coming in without really knowing anything. I mean, John, you
watched it. You're not a wrestling fan, right, No, not at
all. I mean my parents. I mean, there's a lot. So
there's a similar, there's a similar, you know, there's a similar I
guess component here to where you could have the same thing happen and not not
to say that, I don't want to say that that led to him making
his decision to go to Arizona State. But it could not have I put
it this way, It could not have hurt their chances in landing him.
And the example I used earlier for those who are just now joining us,
if you watch wrestlers on Netflix, Cash cash Flow, the wrestler who was
I think probably featured in that in that series, maybe as much as any
of the other wrestlers. Him and a couple of others. Well, you
know, he's a he's a and I know him personally. He's you know,
lives right near me. He went to North Bullet High School just like
I did, and I met him throughout this whole OVW thing. I you
know, didn't know anything about him, But he's been doing this for a
long time. He's in his forties and you know, just kind of a
journeyman trying to chase the dream of being a professional wrestler at the highest level.
Well, that really stood out in that show. Well, Sylvester Stallone
watched that show and he loved Cash and reached out to him and is now
invited him to come be a part of season two of his own show,
Tulsa King. So if you have a paramount, I actually watched season one
last year. Is really well done. And now, I mean earlier today
I saw I saw a post on I think his instagram. Cash is in
one of those trailers in La on set for Tulsa King. And it's all
because Sylvester Stallone watched that show and was like, this guy's awesome. Let
me, you know, let me we could give him a role. And
I just think that's really cool. And that's stuff that like happens because of
those kind of shows. So if you are somebody that you know wants it's
all about building your brand and image and reach and all that exposure. I
mean that that would be a huge opportunity for you if in fact you know
you're you're in it, and that reminds me we are we are kind of
at a point where I mean, and this has probably been this way for
a while, but like, no, but he's going to schools because of
like the name on the front right, Like I mean, it's all transactional.
I think you can you could potentially have the rare exception about a kid
who like is from that's you know, that that state or that area to
where there is the there's an there's an emotional attachment already because you grew up
there and you know all about it. But it's probably been this way for
a long time. But now it's so evident that this is all transactional.
And if you want to go get players, you gotta you gotta pay them,
and you got to give them opportunities to build their brand, exposure,
that kind of stuff. So Jadan Quayton's off the board, and uh,
you know, now we we wait and see who who becomes the top target
for for Pat Kelsey, I'd say, right now, uh Osabor the transfer
from from Utubotah State. I mean he's visiting I believe right now. I
mean I think he got to Lexi yesterday and the the schools that were I
guess, you know, believed to be in content for him is Louisville,
Can in no particular order, Kentucky, Louisville, I think Texas Tech was
one, and then the other one was Washington, which is where his former
coach is now at. So Danny Sprinkle was at Montana State with Osibor and
he ended up leaving following him to Utah State. They were there for one
year together. And now Sprinkle's on the move to Washington and Osibor. We'll
see where he ends up. But you know that would be a big addition.
And you know, you have more money that you could potentially use for
him through NIL because you're not spending any of that money on quaintance now.
And you know, I don't want to put pressure on Pat Kelsey because look,
he may not even get a visit from this guy. He may commit
to Kentucky while he's there. Who knows. There's a lot. I mean,
he's one of the many recruits that I've heard Kentucky's in transfers. I
should say the Kentucky's in great with and some of them they've landed, some
of them they haven't. So we'll see what ends up happening. But you
know, when you don't have quaintance in the mix, I think there is
more of a of a real necessity to go get another big. They will,
trust me, They're going to just not sure if it's going to be
Osbor, which if it is, that's great because again he's believed to be
one of the top five players available in the portal right now. So on
the Kentucky side, I don't think they've landed anybody today, but I know
yesterday and Saturday they landed a couple of commitments, so their rosters slowly but
surely starting to come together. Otaga away the Oklahoma transfer. He decided on
Saturday to commit to Mark Pope. And then Andrew Carr last night the wake
Forest Big, who was really productive last year for Steve Forbes, and he
will I think he'll fit well with what Mark Pope wants to do offensively.
But those are the two newest editions. And then Andrew Mahaney I believe is
his name, who is the transfer from Saint Mary's. He was visiting Kentucky
and then left and then committed to Yukon and then now they've got Kobe Brea,
the Dayton transfer, is currently visiting Kentucky as we speak, and he
is somebody that I'm going to guess is is probably learning about the portal and
academic credits and how you can't literally just go anywhere you've got to be.
You have to go to a school where you are furthering your degree. And
sometimes you know, it's not just that you can't get into school like the
school has some strict requirement, it's just because it's not really a compatibility.
So he initially was down to Duke and Yukon. Well, he ended up
canceling his visit to Duke and is now visiting Kentucky. And maybe it's because
he didn't want to go to Duke. I don't know, but it wouldn't
shock me if he's one of the many transfers that's learned that you can't you
know, when you bounce around as much as some of these transfers have.
And I'm not even sure if this guy's transferred more than once, that it
may be tough for you to make it work academically, which actually leads me
to my next thing I wanted to bring up for those just now joining us.
So I think last time we brought up Penny Boon, the running back
who transferred from Louisville. The last time he came up, we expected he
was going to go to Kentucky, right, he transferred from Toledo, was
here for a few months, practiced like three times, and then bailed and
on his way out, you know, made it quite clear that, you
know, he wasn't happy about the money situation for whatever reason. Did he
think he deserved more money, Did he think he was going to get more
upfront? I don't know, but he left, and I cannot imagine that
him or his agent ever thought that they'd need to worry about what Louisville thought
of them. Although even if you didn't think you'd ever have to come back
to Louisville, which I'm not he's not going to, But I'm just saying
going out the way he did, and it's not a good look for anybody,
right. Some coaches will still take you on if you can play,
but you have really nothing to gain by doing anything other than just being you
know, Like some say it's corny and cliche, but like I think these
guys are getting good advice when they hit the portal. And even if they're
not happy about something in IL or they're disgruntled about playing time. They're going
to go out in a classy way and put the old graphic up right.
You know, that's a long paragraph they probably use AI to create. And
with that said, I'm going to you know, the transfer portal, thank
you something nation, whatever school it is, right, like, nobody really
reads the whole thing, and you know, it's become very cliche, but
that's better. It's better to do that than you know, on your way
out, you know, take shots like he did. So this young man,
I think could could eventually be an example for college athletes moving forward.
And that is one. You can't just jump in the portal and think you're
gonna go anywhere without knowing if it's gonna fit academically, because he can he
couldn't get into Washington. Don't know what happened at Old Miss, but at
Kentucky he was going to transfer there, but he can't. He's it's it's
an academic situation. Not to say that he's got like a terrible GPA or
something or he's failed a class, but it's something about his credits. So
he was at Maryland for a year or two was it Toledo for a year
or two, then at Louisville for three months. It's just, you know,
there's a lot of moving parts to where it's gonna be hard for you
to to make it work. Academically, I think Penny Boon's also somebody that
players can learn from, and that is, you know, make sure you
have a professional, a real agent, because you know, agents are important
when they're needed. I don't think these college athletes need agents for Nil.
I don't. I mean, that could be wrong, but I think having
an agent is just all it could do is potentially muddy some things up.
And if you have a real agent, you know, then that's I think
that's a different story. But when I say a real agent, I mean
a certified agent that represents professional athletes as an agent, not somebody who again
is twenty three years old, who DMD you and because he just got his
sports you know, his you know, his sports management degree and he wants
to, you know, act like he's an executive in the world of college
athletics. Like it's it's just not necessary. I mean, honestly, if
it's for Nil specifically, your partners are mostly going to be local businesses that
want to work with you, and an agent could only I think potentially scare
those people away. Whereas you know, if you look, you need somebody
to to to to work for you essentially, right, Like you've got a
lot of stuff going on with foot all basketball, whatever it may be,
but like have have like one of your parents or something do it, or
just somebody. You know. The whole fact that these this agent profession in
the nil world is a real sham because twenty percent of the revenue. I
mean, that's that's a that's that's a croc. It's outrageous. That's not
even what I mean. A real agent that you know, makes millions and
millions of dollars, they get like three percent or something. But I think
these college athletes are so naive because most of them don't have any experience with
agents because they wouldn't need it, Like they don't even know that they're getting
completely, you know, ripped off by these you know, unqualified people who
call themselves agents. I think by the time we get to I don't know,
a couple more years, that that old thing will be weeded out.
Like I think it's gonna because there's gonna be it's not just Penny Boon,
and I'm not even saying his agent specifically is the one who you know made
this mess for him. But a lot of people who know the situation better
than I do seem to think that that is the case. So he can't
get any Kentucky And now it sounds like like he's trying to transfer to Central
Florida. But wouldn't shock me if he once again is informed that, you
know, academically, it just doesn't it doesn't work, but he won't be
back at Louisville. I would be highly, highly shocked if that ended up
happening, But I guess you never know. All right, let's go,
let's do this, Let's take our quick break. But before we do that,
we'll let you hear another Derby profile and we'll get to the text line
coming up here on the other side and keep this thing rolling along again.
It is a Monday edition of Coffee and Company, and we're feel about Thornton's
here on Sports Talk seven night. Who we have next? John? This
is the favorite fierceness, all right, Now, look at the Kentucky derby
field one by one fierceness. Fierceness is the favorite for the Kentucky Derby after
a jaw dropping thirteen and a half link victory in the Florida Derby. The
Bay Sun of City Light was the two year old champion the Breeders Cup Juvenile
champion last year. He started this season off with a disappointing third place finish
in the Holy Bull Stakes, but the real Fierceness showed up at the Florida
Derby. He led the entire way and he dusted the field as they turned
for home. Owned by Micropoli's Ripoli Stable, trained by Todd Pletcher, ridden
by John Velasquez, Fierceness comes into the Kentucky Derby with a ton of buzz
and a resume to back it up. He has three wins and a third
place finish in five career starts. Fierceness started his career in August with a
blowout performance and eleven length victory and a maiden race at Saratoga. He was
then seventh in the Champagne Stakes before winning the Breeders Cup Juvenile by six and
a half links at odds of sixteen to one. Pletcher then targeted the Holy
for his return. He was bounced around at the start. He was three
wide for most of the trip and could not catch up, finishing third.
The Holy Bull left some question about fierceness and his Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
stature, but that was quickly answered with that performance in the Florida Derby.
Yeah, we thought he'd run well, but you know, it's harder for
jack us. You know, you wan win a Grade one Florida Derby by
over thirteen nights. He just that very often. Todd Pletcher has a record
sixty four starters in the Kentucky Derby. He's won it with Super Savor in
twenty ten and Always Dreaming in twenty seventeen. John Velasquez has won three Kentucky
Derby's. Mike Ropoli is OH four to seven. His best finish mcdonegall a
fifth place finish in twenty twenty two. Last year, Ripoli and Pletcher they
had the favorite for the Kentucky Derby fourteen, who was scratched the morning of
the race. The Connections have the favorite this year and Pledger believes they've got
the Kentucky Derby winner. You know, students kind of grow through the course
of the winner in the spring and has become a lady sort, but I
think still filling into his frame, and it's just kind of scary to think
that there might be some improvement there. So that's right. Coffee and Company
here on Sports Talk seven ninety we are field aout Thornton's. Make sure you
sign up to become a member of the Thornton's Refreshman Awards program if you haven't
already. You'll save money every time you get gas and you could take advantage
of all the perks that come with being a member. So again, refreshing
Awards dot com or download the app and you'll be happy that you did.
All right, So I don't I mean, just from a couple of texts
coming on the text line, I'm not gonna act as if that represents anything
other than, you know, just those two players. But you know,
some are saying, you know that maybe Kelsey feels like he's got his team
and and he's just going to add pieces here, and no, no,
I mean, I just because there's not a you know, a list of
eight players with scheduled visits doesn't mean that they're not active in the portal trying
to you know, trying to find players to come in and fill out the
roster, get this thing turned around, and we only have a couple of
days left before the portal closes, and you never know, there may be
some names that end up entering the portal that you would have never expected.
I doubt that's the case. I feel like by now they would already be
there, but again, you never know they have until they have until the
first so we shall see. And then there's some players out there that I've
not heard Louisville. I've not heard Louisville, you know, be involved with
as far as like listed as the team to beat. But that doesn't mean
that there's not some conversations taking place that could you know, could make it
to where within a couple of days we see okay visits or line up for
this player and Louisville is going to get one. I mean, just because
it's quiet doesn't mean there's not you know, work going on behind the scenes.
And I think everybody knows that. But this whole process has just been
different for fans because we've never been in this position where you're building an entire
new team, and I think we got a little spoiled with how it all
came. I mean, there's a two week period there where every few days
you were getting a player. And I still believe that everybody they've added up
to this point is a good addition. Obviously, some are going to bring
a little more value than others, and it may not be because they're just
that talented. It maybe because they have a specific thing that they bring to
the table. You know, for example, Chuckie Hepburn, that's a guy
who can run your team. He's a leader, he's a point guard that
can distribute, can score, but he doesn't really look to do it a
whole lot. So you know, that's somebody who was a huge addition.
And then elsewhere, I mean I think Trey Orr was a big addition as
well. You know Coran Johnson, a super silky smooth combo guard. They
can score it, can shoot it. And then you've got a mister do
it all. And Javon Hadley from Colorado. And then obviously the first commitment
was Terrence Edwards Junior that I don't think anybody forgets about him, but you
know, he committed early, really before this whole thing got started, and
that has led to him just not being as not being mentioned as much.
But at the end of the day, he could end up being the best
player on this team, even if you go at other good players, because
that's how good he is. You always always wonder how production is going to
translate from you know, a different conference. But I would say that history
has shown that just because a guy you know didn't play in an elite league
and maybe he didn't put up like gaudy numbers, you can still transfer.
I mean, there's some guys whose numbers get better at their new school despite
it being at a higher level, and it's because they benefit from playing with
other really good players. You just never know. But one name that I
think we can now at least throw out there to keep an eye on,
because the one, the only mister Trillia Donovan put this out earlier today that
davey On Smith is somebody Louisville is maybe going to make a run out.
For those who aren't familiar with davey On Smith, he was actually, I
think set to visit Kentucky this past weekend, and I think his situation was
one where credits were an issue to where he couldn't he wouldn't have been able
to get into school there. I don't know that for sure, but his
visit got canceled, and I don't know of any others. I mean,
I'm sure there's other schools involved that has haven't been following his recruitment that closely.
But you know, this is a guy who put up big numbers at
Utah as a point guard. I mean, listen to this stat line in
twenty nine minutes a game, thirteen points, seven assists, and six rebounds,
shooting roughly fifty percent from the floor. I mean, that's pretty impressive.
So you know, if Trillie Donovan says Louisville's involved, I believe Louis's
involved now where they stand, no clue competition for him not sure. I'm
sure we can look into it, but you know, he may pack twelve
history. I'm reading here from the All Youth's website, part of the SI
platform. Yes, says history has been made in the final year of the
PAC twelve as Utah guard davey On Smith broke the conference legend Jason Kidds thirty
year grasp on a single season triple double record. So yeah, he had
his fifth triple double towards the end of the season, which broke jason Kids
records. So yeah, if louivll can't get it on this guy. That'd
be phenomenal. But again, that's uh, you know, that's that's that's
that's from Trillie Donovan. So and I don't say that to say that like
you know that means it's not true because he's been super accurate. It's just,
you know, could be Louisvill could be one of twenty schools involved here.
And I don't want to get anybody's hopes up, but you know,
he would be a big addition. I think front court play is probably something
I mean, I know, look, I know that they're aware that they
need to go add some more guys in the front court, and they will.
But if you could potentially add another guard like this, I think you
would go do it. I mean you'd be you know, you'd be foolish,
you'd be foolish not to. And let me see here is there I
think they're you know, let me just double check here because there's yeah.
So I told this kid I thought the name was familiar, but I did
not. I would have never guessed that he had this type of an explosive
breakout year. So Daveon Smith is a guy Louisville recruited years ago. I
remember when Chris Mack was here, he came in for a visit. He
started his career at Mississippi State, averaged five points as a freshman, you
know, not super productive. And then he plays two seasons at Georgia Tech,
where he averaged five points sophomore year. Junior year he averaged a just
kind of you know, a role player at best. Then he goes to
Utah and was sensational. So but he could be somebody that you have to
you know, when you consider Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, and then Utah,
that's three schools in four years. Could be a credit issue. But
he is at least familiar with Louisville because I know he visited. I think
Mike Pigez hosted him on his visit many years ago, which I thought that
might be the same guy. But I'm thinking no way, And then sure
enough you look at his ESPN page and it shows a statum from those other
schools. By the way, speaking of Trilli Donovan, you know he got
Louisville and Quaintan's wrong, Like he predicted that put his name on it and
it was wrong, and that happens. But in the portal. This dude
has been sensational as far as predicting where guys are gonna end up going.
So he saves his receipts here, and you know, I think that's important.
And that's why last week, you know, it still just sounds silly,
doesn't it, John to credit somebody named Trilly Donovan we know is not
a really human I mean, there's a really human behind it, but you
know, it just seems odd as you know, well, it's Trillly Donovan,
so it must be true. But I think you kind of have to
do that. And that's why as much as him being anonymous does give you
the ability to kind of like never really have to own something if you're wrong
or if you're you know, way off or something like that, but I
think he knows that he's got a better chance of continuing to build this brand
of being this newsbreaker in college basketball if he is if he's accurate, and
he is is spot on, and so far in the Portal cycle, he
has only been wrong. And when I say wrong, I mean he'll update
you throughout the recruitment on you know, of players, He'll give you his
thoughts. But then when he's ready to tell you where he thinks they're going
to go. He'll put it in a separate part of his discord, like
you know, in his intel, like Trilly's intel or something. And he's
gotten everyone right but two and they just happen to be UK and U L
players, So that's interesting. Yeah, the only two that he got wrong
was Jaden Quainton's Louisville. He's picked Louislle. He went Arizona State, and
then also Richie Saunders he picked UK. He decided to go back to BYU.
If you look at and he posted this on his Twitter, I mean
sky Clark to UCLA, Brison Tuckert Indiana. I mean, I mean just
go look at it, and it's it's verified to I mean he is now
like it's yeah, let's see here. He has one hundred and one of
the one hundred and three portal decisions like predictions correct. That's ninety eight percent.
And there are six penning that he's already you know, picked and they
just haven't happened yet. So he's not picking everybody. But you know,
these are guys who were transferring from either a major program or you know,
high major to a different high major or transferred from a mid major up to
a high major. I mean it's it's pretty impressive. In fact, it's
very impressive. So uh, you know, we'll see I haven't seen any
prediction for him with Davion Smith, but if he happened to predict that's where
he ends up, I think we're safe in assuming that that's where he's gonna
end up. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other
side. Wrap this thing up. It's coffee and company. We are philbuth
Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. All right, so we're gonna give
you once again another Derby profile courtesy of the one the only mister Jodi Demmling,
who does a great job each year of not only you know, helping
us out, but just doing a great job covering Derby for a variety of
folks including us here at or at Louisville. And he gives us each horse
about a two to three minute clip production. I should say that tells you,
you know, some key facts about each of these horses. And I
know over the years some have said that, you know, hearing and learning
about these horses has helped them make their decisions. So we'll let you hear
each of these throughout the week before we get to the race on Saturday,
and who we have next? Just a Touch, Just a Touch, Let's
hear it now, look at the Kentucky Derby field one by one. Just
a Touch, one of the true buzz horses of this year's Kentucky Derby comes
out of the barn of trainer Brad Cox. Just a Touch has not won
a race since breaking his maiden in late January, but still a horse that
a lot of people are talking about, a horse that a lot of railbirds
are saying you gotta pay attention to after second place finishes in the Gotham Steaks
and the Bluegrass Steaks. The base one of Triple Crown winner Justify. Just
a Touch is trained by Brad Cox, will be written by Florent Jeru,
the owners Guitar Racing, Resolute Racing, and Mark dan Pell. Just to
Touch did not start as a two year old, the same as his sire
Justified. His first race on January twenty sixth a four and a quarter length
victory in impressive fashion at the Fairgrounds. Cox then shipped Just a Touch to
Aqueduct, where he ran second to deterministic losing by two links in the slop
in the Gotham Stakes on March second, coming out of the Gotham Steaks as
the beaten favorite, Cox decided to take just a touch to the Bluegrass Steaks,
where he ran second to Sierra leone thirty seven, close to a hot
pace there in the Bluegrass, finished up well, galloped out well. He
got a very good horse and hopefully we can turn the tables on that cult.
Very touch has been in the sales ring three times. He brought three
hundred thousand dollars at the Akaala Breeders Spring Sale two year olds in training.
Cox knows just the touch is facing the best field he's ever seen. But
it would not shock the trainer if just a touch one the Kentucky Derby.
He's another one that's now. Physically he looks amazing. He's moving great,
he's got tremendous drade. He's a big horse. He's glad to get them
out on a quarter you know, and lightly race. So we're open and
invests are the company, all right. Let's stick with the the Derby theme
here as we wrap up the show. Just a couple of minutes left,
but we've been looking at the Barnstable Brown Party List, the celebrities that have
rsvp'ed, and it's just fun to see all these celebrities that are coming to
town. But also what makes it fun is that there's a lot there's celebrities
that I'm not questioning if in fact they're truly celebrities or if they're worthy,
because just because I mean, I know who they are, doesn't mean that
they're not potentially super famous. Right, there's certain I mean, I'm pretty
disconnected with like the TMZ world as far as who's really famous. So like
the people that are famous to be there, people who are I guess in
sports because you know, like that's that's my lane, That's what I'm interested
in. But let's uh, Tina Knowles. Do you know who that is?
Tina Knowles. I bet she's an actress. Yeah, I'm gonna say
something in the entertainment world music acting. But I'm also gonna guess that she
could be related to Beyonce. Maybe she is related to Beyonce. Boom?
Is she just coming by herself? Like what about you know? I mean,
what about I don't know her? So it's Beyonce's mother? Looks like
yeah, so Beyonce's mother is I mean she is she bringing her husband?
You know, there's he still around. I don't. I don't know much
about the Noles family, but I know that's that's a lucky guess because the
last name Knowles being a celebrity, I just assumed that it was somebody related
to Beyonce Knowles, not you know, Preston Noles who played at Louisville many
years ago. All right, let's see what about where are we the list
here? Clay Walker, he's a country sting. Of course, clay Walker
is a legend. She won't be lonely long love love me some clay Walker
just I mean, you could he had. He had a catalog in the
nineties, early two thousands that I still don't think it gets the credit that
it deserves. In fact, clay Walker played a concert here at four Street
Derby Week many years ago. I went with my friends, uh and it
was awesome. But I have a very memorable story from that. We were
in you know, we were up close. There's a lot of people there
too, by the way, which four Street is going to be packed this
week because there's a lot of people in town. Downtown Louisville, and you
know, there's a lot going on here. I think they've got some concerts
scheduled. But we were close and like, you know, clay Walker,
he's a showman, John, Like he really wants to play into the crowd,
right, Like he wants you singing alongage press. Yeah, he wants
you engaged, right, he wants the crowd working with the same energy he's
working with. And he kept throwing guitar picks. I mean, just thinking
that every person there was just dying to say they were able to catch a
guitar pick from Clay Walker. I mean, and at one point, you
know where we were sitting like we were getting showered with him, and I'm
thinking, like, all right, buddy, we got it, Like we
got enough for everybody, Like you can stop throwing the guitar picks. They're
raining on us. You know, we're trying to enjoy them, you know,
just throwing guitar picks like you know, like they were collectors items.
But love klay Walker. Glad to hear he's gonna be in Louisville, which
he was playing somewhere. We're only like forty percent of the list, John,
so we'll all ready for more. We'll get back at it tomorrow.
Everybody, have a good night. Enjoyed it every week. Let's talk to
you tomorrow right here on Sports Talk seven ninety